Elderly woman kept under digital arrest for 1 month, robbed of Rs 78 lakh in Bengaluru | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: A 74-year-old woman lost around Rs 78 lakh to cybercrooks who kept her under digital arrest, accusing her of being involved in money laundering. The incident, which took place between June 27 and July 21, traumatised the Koramangala resident, who was home alone after her husband’s death.A senior officer said the victim filed a complaint with the Central CEN Crime police on July 22, and efforts are being made to freeze the money in the bank accounts of the fraudsters.The fraud was initiated on June 24 when Keerthana (name changed) received a call from someone who introduced himself as a Mumbai police officer. He told her a case was registered against her for illegal transactions, and her mobile number was being used for illegal advertisements and harassment calls. The caller produced her Aadhaar details, saying the identity document had been used to open a bank account and purchase a sim card.The call was then connected to another miscreant, who introduced himself as a CBI officer. He told Keerthana that the bank account opened in her name had transactions up to Rs 4 crore. The fraudsters told her the case involved VVIPs and there was an arrest warrant against her. She was asked to appear before the investigating officers in Mumbai. When she pleaded her inability to do so, citing her age, they said that they would conduct the investigation virtually and that she had to remain under digital arrest.The miscreant warned her against revealing the matter to anyone, including her family members, or making any calls without their permission. She was told she would be under surveillance 24×7. The following day, the miscreants told her that they would help extricate her out of the case if they could verify her bank account transactions. They told her to transfer funds to accounts provided by them, promising it would be returned if they found her money was “not black”.Keerthana started sending money to the miscreants on June 27. She visited her bank a few times to transfer the money and nearly emptied her two accounts.When she didn’t receive her money back as promised, she shared the matter with one of her relatives and learned it was a fraud. According to her, she transferred money to six bank accounts.